Into the Midst

Chapter 1

Papa told me to go. He told me to leave. He said to never look back. He said that I was not to argue. That I had to switch places every day. When I asked when I would see him again, he told me not for a long time. Maybe forever.

That happened almost a year ago. I'm now 15. I have always kept moving just like Papa asked. This would be easy if I could apparate or use magic. But I can't. I still have the trace and Papa said that under no conditions can I be found. I don't know why I'm hiding but Papa told me this with the most serious face. He usually is very serious . I didn't know that his face could get any more serious. If someone told me that it could, I wouldn't have believed them. That was until I saw this new face. It was so serious that I knew I had to do what he said.

I have been moving around and always walking. I missed a snatcher by an inch once. But now I'm here. In the middle of I-don't-know-the-name forest. Yesterday I found this really cool pond that had frozen over. I wanted to play on it but I knew that I couldn't just in case it cracked. I couldn't leave any evidence I was there. Today I found this tent on top of a hill. It wasn't there before. It must have some sort of charm on it. I had the best night sleep that I have had in awhile. I knew that no one can see me. It is now night and I know that I should be moving but I just feel so safe here that I decided to stay just one more night.

I like to listen to people talk. There was this one girl that was shouting a lot to a guy that apparently left them, never contacted to let them know that he was alive or okay. I caught the name "Ronald" and "Hermione". I know that I have heard those names before but I can't be sure where. I started to walk forwards a little to hear better. I saw a girl throwing things at a red-headed boy. They looked to be newly of age.

I took another step closer but I wasn't being careful. I stepped on a twig. As I heard the crunch, I darted back around the corner. But it was too late. They heard me. I hate to think of how disappointed Papa would be.

"Who's there?" I heard the girl shout, "I know you're there. Show yourself now and we won't hurt you"

I heard the boy mutter "Unless you're a Death Eater" and the girl responded with "Shut up Ronald!" She called out again, "You have 5 seconds to reveal yourself. 5...4...3...2...1-"

"Papa told me not to." I cut in. There was a brief period of silence before I began again. "He said to stay hidden. To not let anyone see me. I shouldn't talk to you. I would be disobeying Papa. He said there are people out there that would hurt me. How do I know you're not going to hurt me? How do I know I can trust you?"

This obviously shocked them. They were not expecting that. There was a pause before the girl spoke again, but this time in a much softer tone. "We won't hurt you. I promise. We are also hiding from the people who would hurt us." I stayed put. I wanted to go but I wasn't totally convinced. "My name is Hermione. This is Ron and the other one is Harry." At the name Harry a part of me wanted to runaway. But the bigger part told me to stay. To show myself. So I listened. I showed myself.

I saw Hermione looking at me gently as I revealed myself while Ron was looking at me confused. Harry looked at me in wonder."Now," Hermione started getting serious again. "What is your name?"

I got nervous. Papa said not to give out information unless I was sure I could trust them. I feel like I can trust them, but I had to be sure. They were all looking at me expectantly now and it was making me even more anxious. Harry must have sensed this and said, "You can just tell us your first name if you like."

"Illy," I said. It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the truth. It was a nickname. Hermione and Ron seemed to accept this but Harry saw right through me.

"Illy? That must be short for something. Your actual first name. It is only fair seeing as we gave you ours." Harry stated. I mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?" he asked.